The Shadows Have Things In Them
by under-the-lime
Summary: Alliarin Black well, she thought her life was a mess, and that was before she arrived at 12 Grimmauld Place...
1. Close To The Flame

Disclaimer: It would be nice to own Harry Potter, but sadly I do not. Most characters hereafter mentioned are the result of J.K. Rowling's mind, not mine. Unrecognisable characters are most likely mine – it should be fairly obvious when they are, I'm not too imaginative with names. My plots are just that: mine.

Time: Harry, Ron and Hermione are going into 6th year; Luna, Ginny and Ally into 5th. Sirius is dead for the story to work but I really like Snape + Dumbledore so they are staying.

N.B. Ally went to Beauxbatons up to 6th year because her mother is French.

CLOSE TO THE FLAME

"Mother! I refuse to stay at the Malfoy's. I am going to Luna's as usual and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

"You are not going to stay at THAT house! The Lovegood's are worse than Mudbloods! Her father is the editor of the Quibbler, for God's sake!"

I had to agree with my mother on that point. The Quibbler was probably one of the worst magazines around. Sometimes there would be a good article in their – but that was rare. The only reason that they could afford to go to Sweden on the expedition was because of the best-selling interview they had done with Harry Potter about Voldemort.

You don't mean that! I happen to enjoy the Quibbler!

Oh, did I mention that I have this voice that talks to me? Sometimes I think there are two of me in there. 'IT' is one weird person, I mean he reads the Quibbler actually thinks the Weird Sisters are sexy, and likes to read Muggle stories such as 'The Cat In The Hat'.

Hey! If you ever read them properly, you'd love them too! Dr. Seuss is a genius! And the Weird Sisters are schmexy…

See what I have to put up with? There was this time in my 3rd year, when I was innocently sitting in Potions and then he said….something incredibly stupid like

"I bet Professor Lowe looks hot in a tartan miniskirt"

I wouldn't be surprised if he was gay…after all; no straight guy I know would make a comment like that…

I am so not gay! But seriously….how funny would that be? Lowe in a miniskirt!

Then again, what sensible gay person would like Lowe? He definitely seems more of a straight person than a bent person anyways. Not to mention, he's kinda creepy.

My conversation with myself was cut short….thankfully.

"Alliarin Black! Get your lazy self down here now!"

My mother is so kind and thoughtful. Always asking how I feel about things and whether I want a new owl……

"When I said now, I didn't mean when I was dead!" she bawled up the stairs.

"Take a chill pill, Mother! I'm coming, for fuck's sake calm down!" I screeched back.

I trudged downstairs, carrying with me my new trunk which had 5 compartments. My entire library, wardrobe and back-catalogue of school work were in there. Of course my mother wasn't to know this as she probably wouldn't even look in my room to check everything was normal until I had left.

Unknown to her, I wasn't planning on going anywhere near the Malfoy house anytime soon. I was going to my Uncles house. I knew Sirius wouldn't have forgotten me, especially considering how I was his only visitor and last non Death Eater relative and all.

Of course, I had a back-up plan. I know the Weasley twins well, and even have a job in their shop when I am on holiday in England. It would be better for them if I could work from the flat upstairs as I would never be late again!

So as my mother gave me one last scorching comment, I grabbed my broom and cast my Disillusionment spell. Lifting my bags over the end of my broom, I set off. Thank Lord! I was finally free from that woman and that house! Hopefully, I would never have to see or speak to any Malfoys again. As I flew over London to where I knew my Uncles house was, I took out the scrap of paper that had his address on. It was odd, because it wasn't written in his handwriting. He had sent it to me in my most recent letter – telling me to visit if I got the chance. That was 3 weeks ago now and I sent him my reply last Friday. I thought maybe he would have replied, but Septimus (my Black Hawk Owl) returned empty handed.

I realised that I had flown over Fulham, and was getting closer and closer to where Uncle Siri lived. I landed on Grimmauld Place Road and removed my mothers spell. I started to walk along to his house. 10, 11……13? I walked back and double checked. There was no 12 Grimmauld Place. I took out the piece of paper and made sure I had the right number. I looked up, still holding the paper. **Their** it was! How could I have missed it? I walked up and knocked on the door, noticing that the handle was in the Slytherin shape. Father had mentioned that it was the family home, therefore automatically would be based on Slytherin. Sirius is the only non-Slytherin Black ever. I was hoping not to be sorted into Slytherin when I arrived at Hogwarts; I was hoping either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. The door opened and I looked up expecting to see Sirius their. Instead I saw someone completely unexpected.

"Uncle Snape? What the bollocks are you doing here?" I questioned.

"How did **you** get here?" he said harshly.

"I flew." I answered quickly. "Why are you in Uncle Siri's house? He **hates** your bloody guts, man."

He gasped and muttered "You'd better come in."

All the while, we had been speaking French, so it was a surprise to me when my uncle screeched out to the house in English: "Molly! We have a problem!" he angrily snarled.

I saw a plump woman with bright red hair in an obviously home-made jumper come down the main staircase and glare at Snape.

"What is it Severus, you know I'm busy with Harry and Ron at the mom-" she stopped mid-sentence.

"Severus, who is **she** and why does she have a massive trunk with her?" she asked speedily.

"Molly, its probably best if we speak in private. Er……yes."

In all my life I had never heard my stoic British uncle at a loss for words. Turning back to me he addressed me in English – again a first, as we always spoke in French.

"Ally, er dear, you had better wait here until er me and er Molly have had a chat."

They ascended the staircase, talking quietly and occasionally stopping to turn and look at me. I was very confused. Uncle Siri had told me it would be okay for me to come and visit him anytime but why were all these odd people in his house. Almost as soon as they had passed out of sight, I heard people coming down yet another staircase behind me! This wasn't my Uncle and "Molly" it sounded more like teenagers!

They were talking.

"Look, Harry, you can't keep moping. Its not your fault about Snuffles. You couldn't have done anything to stop it." Voice One said. "Harry? Harry, are you even listening?"

"What? Oh, sorry Ron." Said "Harry" said to Ron.

"Harry, mate, you need to start listening to me and Mione; its almost been a week now and maybe you should make a memorial for him or something like that"

"Look, Ron. I know you and Mione are trying to help, but I really do just need to have some time, yeah? It's not easy."

Harry had almost stormed off but in a less angry way. Ron was obviously thinking about it. He muttered to himself "Well, I mean it is like when Dad got attacked and we all thought he was going to die and stuff. I still think he should lighten up a bit, maybe?"

It was clear that he hadn't spotted me yet. Ron was almost at the bottom of the stairs when a screeching interrupted his soliloquy -

"Oh what would my mother say if she saw you here, a filthy blood-traitor polluting our Black house! Poor Phineas, he has left to the Headmaster's office because he is so disgusted! Oh my poor family, what has become of us! Oh woe is - "

"Oh shut Up you old thing. _Silencio!_" said Ron.

The painting was quiet. I was slightly upset that both boys had walked straight past me without apparently noticing a thing but I could tell that they were immersed in their own thoughts.

The conversation I had unwittingly eavesdropped on had confused me incredibly. Placing my bag on the floor, I sat on it, and released Septimus, who came to perch on my shoulder and nuzzle me for a treat. What on Earth had they been talking about? Maybe Snuffles had been Harry's pet and had died. But Ron was right, if so, it seemed as though he was overreacting a bit. It was then that I heard the most welcome sound I think I have ever heard. A familiar voice! I turned around and stood up, not expecting to see someone I would actually recognise in this place that was starting to seem less and less like a welcome haven and more like a repressing dump.

Seeing the scuffed shoes gave me hope and then the whole body came into view.

I leapt up and yelled at my bosses, Fred + George Weasley.

"Fred! George!"

They turned with a mixture of confusion, happiness and surprise on their almost identical faces.

"Ally!" they yelled.

Racing down the stairs they welcomed me with a massive hug and surprised questions. The usual – what are doing here, why, how, etc…

I just felt so much better knowing that I had a friend their with me. It made everything seem so much less dramatic. But why were the Weasley's in my Uncle's house? It was really odd, and Uncle Snape's presence could have been explained away – maybe him and Sirius were patching things up – but the Weasley's?

I asked the only question that was on my mind.

"So, whats going on here?"


	2. Lose You Tonight

Disclaimer: It would be nice to own Harry Potter, but sadly I do not. Most characters hereafter mentioned are the result of J.K. Rowling's mind, not mine. Unrecognisable characters are most likely mine – it should be fairly obvious when they are, I'm not overly imaginative with names. My plots are just that: mine.

Time: Harry, Ron and Hermione are going into 6th year; Luna, Ginny and Ally into 5th. (Ginny and Ally will have Potions with the 6th years because they are special, and Luna and Ginny have DADA with them because of what happened at the Ministry. Luna and Ally are vaguely related hence they know each other quite well.) Sirius is dead for the story to work but I really like Snape + Dumbledore so they are staying. (Snape will be Potions teacher, Lupin the DADA one.)

N.B. Ally went to Beauxbatons up to 6th year because her mother is French.

As explained in the OP, all the Pureblood families have links. Okay maybe Uncle is a stretch but she's not gonna say my mum's cousin's half-brother's uncle's son is she!

---- The "VOICE"

----- Ally's thought speak to "VOICE"

LOSE YOU TONIGHT

Fred and George looked surprised at my question. I could see that they had assumed I was there for the same reason as them. Either that or they thought that we were at the Burrow, and I was popping round for a visit. It was definitely the latter. They seemed to realise that no, we weren't at the Burrow, we were standing in the dingy, dark hall of an unwelcoming house.

They suddenly became wary and tense. They presumably had completely forgotten that to me, it seemed as though my Uncle's house was filled with strangers. Having said that, did they even know that Sirius Black was my Uncle? I mean Black cant be that common of a surname, right?

They've forgotten your surname, mate. In their minds you're just Ally.

Guess who's back? Well I can't say I wasn't pleased to hear the voice was back. I'd never really thought about who/what it was before and after all there's no time like the present, right?

What is your name? I can't believe that I haven't asked before!

You can call me Ally, you goon. I am you! Just the bit that never normally gets heard.

Thankfully.

Oh! I feel as though you cut my heart out with a spoon!

Um…Okay then? Moving swiftly on.

I realised that I had probably been standing in a daze for about a minute.

"Sorry guys, I guess I zoned out a bit."

"Just a bit!" They answered in unison. "We were **trying** to get you to tell us what you're doing here."

Fuck. They** had** blatantly forgotten.

"Um…well, I came to - "

Fortunately for me this was the point at which Uncle Severus and Molly chose to reappear and halt any awkward questions.

"Boys! Stop bothering the poor girl! Go upstairs and play with Ginny, now!" said Molly sharply. I didn't miss the pleading look she sent them and I became ever so slightly more confused, if that was possible.

I turned my attention back to my Uncle. He was looking as stoic as usual and was avoiding my eyes. Jeez knees! That never happened. I could feel that something bad was going to happen.

It's Sirius. You know it is. **I **know it is.

No. No. NO! That's not possible. It couldn't be. How could it happen? He's clever. He knows not to go near the Dark Lord, especially not since he escaped. Maybe he just had an accident! He could just be ill.

Look, mate, you know that's not the case. I think I know he's gone.

"Um, Ally dear, this may come as a bit of a shock but er well, basically your Uncle had an……accident. Well, the thing is that he is er…" Molly tapered off. I knew what she was trying to tell me but I seemed to have become detached. She probably didn't want to say because it would probably upset her.

"He's dead, Ally." Finished my uncle.

"Oh." It wasn't that I didn't care, it was just that I was slipping into my normal mourning phase: silent tears and apparent unconcern.

"Look, Ally, there was nothing we could have done." said my last living non-evil Uncle. I looked at him. He looked extremely guilty, well as guilty as someone who has an almost emotionless face. They, wisely, left me to my mourning.

I must have sat their for hours just crying and staring, with Septimus sitting loyally with me. Finally, I moved. I got up and went over to the tapestry of our family tree. I traced it down to where Sirius should have been and encountered a burn mark. I can still remember the first time I saw it. Sirius and I had come to the house after Old Gran Black's funeral. It was the first time I had seen him out of Azkaban and was just 3 years ago. He didn't recognise me until we were introduced – well my visits to Azkaban had been stopped when I was 7. We had then moved over to the tapestry and he had explained that he had exonerated himself with the people that mattered and that even though he would be going into hiding with "Buckbeak", a Hippogriff, we could still send each other letters. He also told me the story about why his mother had burnt him off.

FLASHBACK

"Well basically, me and all my mates – we were called the Marauder's – we wanted to meet up over the summer after we left Hogwarts for good. We arranged to meet at Prong's –that's James- as his parents knew all of us, and wouldn't mind us using magic over the week. We also wanted to talk about what all of us were going to do next. Peter had to leave earlier than the rest of us – the traitorous rat – so me, Remus and James decided to try and get job's all together. Unfortunately, my mother pretty much knew what she wanted me to do – become a fully fledged murderer like me dad. I don't think so! She chased me to James's, armed with her backwards wand and our decrepit family broom. How very unfortunate for her that she fell off! I managed to escape and hide in the cellar of the Potter's house until she had left, very disgruntled. The final straw for her was when I sent her a letter disowning myself from the family. She had so hoped that I would be the saving grace of the family and nestle myself in You-Know-Who's Inner Circle. How unfortunate for her – he then had her murdered for failing to convert me." Sirius had told me all this in hushed tones, as he was still wanted for his 'crimes'. He seemed less bitter than when I had seen him in Azkaban, and I was pleased.

END FLASHBACK

We had corresponded frequently ever since then. Their had been a small while when he hadn't sent me anything, but that was probably because he didn't have an owl at hand. I was going to find and re-read all of his letters and file them properly. I didn't want to lose the only contact I had left with him.

I wouldn't be getting any more letters. That's when it hit me that Sirius was gone and that I was going to have to deal with that. I still had Uncle Severus, after all. He was better than nothing.

I picked up my bags and moved over to where I had seen Molly and my Uncle go. Walking through the door, I saw it was kitchen. Their was one girl sitting at the table and she was studying. I walked over and pulled up a chair next to her.

"Ron, how many times have I told you not to bother me when I'm bus – Oh. You're not Ron." said the girl

"Er. No. Apparently not." I replied "I'm Alliarin. Ally for short. Who are you?"

"I'm Hermione Granger. Um Are you looking for someone?"

"Yeah um…but I can find him later. What are you doing?"

She looked slightly suspicious. "I'm reading 'Advanced Charms and Transfigurations' I'm trying to find out how people actually become an Animagus. Not because I particularly want to be one," she seemed particularly eager to get this across "but it seems as though it wouldn't be particularly difficult to do. I've found a little bit about a potion you can use to show animals you could become according to your power at the time you become one." She finished.

"I read in 'Controlling your Power' that sometimes wizards automatically become them kinda like a Metamorphagus but not as varied. I think it was hereditary; so if an Animagus, not in form, became pregnant, then her child would have hereditary Animagus powers of the form of the parent. I don't know if it would work if the father was an animagus. It would probably be difficult to test because there are so few Animagus's alive at the moment. I thought maybe it would be like werewolves when if a werewolf gets pregnant then the children are likely to be werewolves. And that's if they could get pregnant at all. I would imagine that they would be barren."

Hermione looked stunned.

"Wow. I never realised that other people were interested in this kind of thing. Where did you find that book?"

"It was in my old school library."

"Hogwart's?" she questioned.

"No, I went to Beauxbatons. But I'm starting at Hogwarts this year – I'll be going into my 5th year. I'm hoping to be sorted into Ravenclaw or maybe Gryffindor. Do you go there?" I asked, hoping to find someone else to talk to.

"Yes, I do. You're really clever for someone who's just come out of 4th year! I'm going into my 6th year. Do you know anyone yet?"

"Well, I know someone in Ravenclaw – Luna Lovegood. Maybe you know her?" Hermione was nodding in confirmation "I also know the Weasley twins, but I think they left a couple of years ago, so that's not much help! Oh. And I know Malfoy."

"Well, I think the Weasley's are great, but I have to question your intelligence on the Malfoy. He's an idiot." I have to say, I agreed with her their! He was a first-class prick!

I finally remembered why I had spoken to her in the first place.

"Do you know where I could find…" I paused. Would she know who I meant? I remembered that he was a teacher so here goes nothing… "Professor Snape?" Jeez knees that sounded odd!

She gave me a really odd look. Almost a 'who the hell would **want **to see him' kinda look. She pointed through another door.

"Well bye then. Guess I'll be seeing you around school sometime." I left before she could answer.

I wandered through the long hall gazing at all the glorious paintings and tapestries that adorned the walls. I found myself going deeper into the house and came to the dungeons. Yes, this seemed like the place that my Uncle would like to live in. It would add to his sense of evilness that he managed to keep around him at all times.

I came to door. It had the same Slytherin knocker as the front door. Most of the doors in my house had this opening as well! I grinned and stroked the snake then pushed its eyes in. this was definitely my Uncles place as he always coded his chambers like that. BORING! Even though I had learnt of Sirius's death just 5 hours ago I was starting to feel positively cheerful. I called out to my Uncle just in time to hear the door snick quietly shut behind me and he appeared from an archway in front of me. He looked more than a bit surprised to see me looking so happy after he had told me that my favourite uncle had died just a few hours previously.

Then he seemed to remember something. He gestured me over to the sofa and started to talk.

"Ally, we need to have a serious talk about how you got into this house."

As he appeared to think I would start talking all by myself, I started to think about how I would tell my story.

"Well, as you know, this year I am starting at Hogwarts. Mother and Father thought that a good way for me to become ingrained in their society was to stay the holiday with the Malfoy's. She also said that as her and Father were returning to France, I would have to spend all the other Holidays at their house too. Well, you know how much I hate them, because they are so small-minded. So I decided to come up with another plan. I had recently received a letter from Sirius, telling me that he had a new house, and that I was welcome to come and visit or stay during the holiday, because maybe I would see some Hogwarts students their as well.

He included the address, but what was odd was that it wasn't written in his handwriting. Of course, I had a back-up plan, but I'll tell you about that later. So when mother packed me off to the Malfoy's, I had my new trunk which contained all my worldly goods. As I flew over where the address (which I had memorised) was I landed at the end of Grimmauld Place. I walked along the road and looked up at 11. I saw 10, 11,13. There appeared to be no Number 12 Grimmauld Place. So I took out the scrap of paper with the address on, and saw that indeed their was a no. 12 Grimmauld Place and I dismissed it as dim light. You know the rest."

"Okay. Well Ally, the thing is, this house isn't supposed to be visible to just anyone. You're not supposed to be able to walk in off the street. I **need** to see that piece of paper, now."

Slightly freaky. I don't know why this house is supposed to be invisible, and I certainly didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition! So, I, being the perfect niece, meekly handed over the paper. I DON'T THINK SO!

"Why?" I said.

"Because I said so! Just give me the damned piece of paper already."

"No."

"WHAT!"

"No, Non, Nein, Naj etc…I want some answers." Hehehe. He is so easy to wind up. "For example, where's Betsy? And Asrahu? And why is this piece of paper so important anyways?"

"If you must know, you pesky chit, Betsy is at Hogwart's and Asrahu is asleep. And no, you cant go and wake him up."

"And the paper?" Oh, come on man I mean how important could it **really** be?


End file.
